Table of contents for May 2018 in Cyclist

You have to respect a country where they have deliberately neglected to upgrade the roads so that the nation’s favourite bicycle race remains as difficult and dangerous as possible from one year to the next. Anyone who has ridden on Belgium’s cobbles knows that they are entirely unsuited to cycling. The stones are rounded on top, with sharp edges seemingly designed to puncture tyres, and they are spaced precisely the right distance apart to ensure maximum jarring of bones and teeth. When it rains, the cobbled surface turns into a lumpy ice rink, which is hard enough to ride on when it’s flat, but when you’re grinding up a 20% slope it becomes almost impossible to gain traction. You find yourself momentarily stationary while your back wheel spins round uselessly,…

Why has the use of hostesses become an issue? In January, the Professional Darts Council announced that it was ending the use of ‘podium girls’ in the sport, which was swiftly followed by Formula 1 also announcing that it would no longer be using ‘grid girls’ to hang around the drivers in the upcoming 2018 season. The moves immediately sparked questions as to whether cycling would do the same and stop its traditional use of women on the podium to hand out prizes and kiss the sweaty cheeks of winning riders. So what’s the big problem with women presenting prizes? Ever since Peter Sagan pinched the bottom of a hostess at the 2013 Tour of Flanders, the media and public have started to question what purpose podium girls serve, if…

Motorcyclists have got the right idea when it comes to protection. In the event of a spill, their apparel is specifically designed to keep skin intact when body and tarmac collide. Meanwhile, despite occasionally travelling at similar speeds, cyclists only have a thin layer of fabric between them and the road. When cyclists crash, they end up with a rash. It’s an issue several cycling apparel brands are starting to address by adding protective technologies into their garments. Scott has been bonding tiny ceramic beads onto panels of selected garments, such as these gloves, to make them highly abrasion resistant. Meanwhile, Etxeondo and Santini have both taken to incorporating Dyneema fibres in their fabrics – a polymer that is 15 times stronger than steel but flexible enough to wear comfortably…

Dear Frank Please resolve an argument for me. Which is the classic of Classics: the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix? (I think we can all agree it isn’t Liège-Bastogne-Liège.) James, Leeds Dear James While I agree with you that it certainly isn’t Liège-Bastogne-Liège, I do want to take a moment to give that race a tip of the hat. This is a race of some 260km, which starts hilly on its way down to Bastogne, and then when it turns on its heels to head back up to Liège, it doubles down on the hills. The closer you get to the finish, the hillier it gets. They include climbs like the Stockeu, which is gratuitous in the sense that it leaves the main valley road, heads directly up the side…

1988 Turns professional with ADR and the following year is instrumental in teammate Greg LeMond’s Tour de France win. 1990 Joins Lotto and takes two stages of the Tour de France, including the final stage in Paris. 1993 Wins the Tour of Flanders and receives his nickname, the ‘Lion of Flanders’. Spends two days in yellow at the Tour de France. 1996 First win at Paris-Roubaix, crossing the line ahead of two Mapei teammates. Wins World Championships Road Race in Lugano, Switzerland. 1998 Third win at the Tour of Flanders but a crash on the Arenberg at Roubaix almost ends his career. 2000 Solo break of 44km to take his second Paris-Roubaix win. Spends several days in a coma after a motorcycle accident. 2002 Third Paris-Roubaix win. 2003 Begins mentoring…

Why do wealthy individuals such as Andy Rihs, Gerry Ryan, Igor Makarov or Zdeněk Bakala, or countries such as Bahrain or the UAE, put their money into cycling teams? Are there clues in others sports, where there has been a similar phenomenon? The journalist James Montague investigated the trend in his book The Billionaires Club, sub-titled, ‘The unstoppable rise of football’s super-rich owners’. Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner, appears as publicity-shy as Makarov, the Katusha owner. But the fame that comes with owning the London club is a by-product of Abramovich’s real motivation, reckons Montague: ‘His new-found fame made him an asset to the Kremlin if he stayed onside, but much harder to destroy if he stepped out of line.’ Owning a major football club offers…

DAVID MILLAR The Scotsman bought his own FMB silk tubulars to ride the final time-trial at the 2009 Giro d’Italia. They didn’t help him on that occasion, but he did go on to win the TT at that year’s Vuelta a Espana. TOM BOONEN One of the early proponents of FMB tyres, Boonen rode them to victory at both the 2009 and 2012 Paris-Roubaix, although the tyres were left unbranded. FABIAN CANCELLARA When it came to TTs he tended to use Veloflex tubulars, but for the Classics Spartacus often sported a set of aptly named FMB Paris-Roubaix tyres. It was on those tyres that he won both Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2013. NIKI TERPSTRA In 2014, Specialized was so confident of the FMB casing that rather than insist on riders…

Speed is still king. Whether it’s making disc brakes as fast as they can be with Scott’s new Foil, grinding up gravel on the Litespeed Cherohala or just keeping it simple with the pro-pedigree Basso Diamante, the message is clear: whatever you choose, make it quick…

If ever there was a royal family of bikes, it would be the Colnago C-series. From the original C40, launched in 1994, the bikes have become iconic for the crimped tubes and carbon lugs that hark back to the style of classic steel frames. Like its forebears, the new C64 is handmade in Italy (which Colnago claims makes it the ‘biggest Italian-made carbon frame maker’) and at first glance it looks very similar to its predecessors, the C60 and C59, but the bike has been redeveloped far more than the silhouette suggests. ‘We’re calling the C64 a revolution of the C60, but really we’ve changed everything,’ says designer Davide Fumagalli. ‘Starting from the shape, but also the kind of carbon fibre and the process behind the bike, it’s a completely…

Every September, a group of riders gathers in the French city of St Etienne to pay homage to a man most cyclists have never heard of. Yet Paul de Vivie’s vision is responsible for making cycling more accessible to the masses and allowed riders to cover distances and scale topography that had previously been the preserve of the racing elite. De Vivie is credited with inventing gears – or, more accurately, a seamless way of switching between them. This was at the dawn of the 20th century, at a time when gears were already in use in the bicycle races of the day. The problem was that there were usually only two of them and switching from the small sprocket to the big sprocket – located on opposite sides of…

…POWER METERS ‘We didn’t have them, we didn’t have a screen, we didn’t have watts, we knew how fast we were going and how hard the legs were hurting, and that was it. It was all about feeling. I liked it in my generation because it was all attacking and it was all riding. Maybe a rider won but sometimes they lost because they made a mistake or something. Now it’s more programmed.’ …INSPIRING RIDERS ‘I rate Sagan. Cycling needs winners, but it also needs winners with some special moves and sometimes humour, like Sagan. In my generation it was Cipollini – he was more special than the rest. Cycling needs winners like that and Sagan is really good for cycling.’ …FLANDERS VS ROUBAIX ‘Flanders is different to Roubaix. You…

Sportful R&D Light jacket, £180, c3products.com James says: ‘With Polartec-stuffed panels on the front and arms, this jacket proves insulation doesn’t have to make you look like the Michelin Man. Sportful also has a full-Polartec Zero version, but for me the ‘Light’ was the perfect blend of warmth and racy fit, although it’s worth noting it’s not particularly water-resistant.’ Pearl Izumi Elite Pursuit Softshell jacket, £139.99, madison.co.uk Steve says: ‘This is one layer that seems to do the work of many. The Elite Pursuit offers excellent thermal insulation, which I was grateful of during the frosty start, but ample breathability such that I didn’t overheat later in the ride when the sun came out. It’s windproof and water resistant too, making it highly versatile.’ Assos HabutightsMille…

HE WEARS: ASHMEI  Ashmei Croix De Fer jersey, £129, Ashmei v.3 bibshorts, £235, Ashmei Dot Merino socks, £15, ashmei.com Bontrager Velocis helmet, £149, trekbikes.com, Rapha Pro Team Arenberg sunglasses, £150, rapha.cc, Specialized S-Works 6 shoes, £310, specialized.com HE RIDES: Alchemy Atlas, £2,500 (frameset), saddleback.co.uk SHE WEARS: VOID  Void Grape Tri Ride jersey, £95, Void Shield Top base layer, £12, Void Ride bibshorts, £135, Void 16 socks, £12, voidcycling.com Kask Protone helmet, £199, velobrands.co.uk, Kask Koo Open Cube sunglasses, £174.99, velobrands.co.uk, Sidi Wire Air shoes, £325, saddleback.co.uk SHE RIDES: Focus Izalco Max Disc, £6,799, derby-cycle.com HE WEARS: MAAP  Maap 22 Degree Team jersey, £114.35, Maap Seamless Vest base layer, £48.38, Maap Base bibshorts, £189.12, Maap Band Pro socks, £21.99, maap.cc Giro Synthe MIPS helmet, £259.99, zyrofisher.co.uk, Oakley Jawbreaker sunglasses, £175, uk.oakley.com, Shimano S-Phyre…

Black Mountain Magic p58 Kask Protone helmet, £199.99 velobrands.co.uk Oakley Radarlock sunglasses, £155 uk.oakley.com Maap 22 Degree Team jersey, £114.35 maap.cc Maap 22 Degree Team bibshorts, £171.53 maap.cc Prendas Dryarn Carbon socks, £6.99 prendas.co.uk Mavic Cosmic Elite shoes, £130 mavic.com Steady Eddy p138 Lazer Z1 helmet, £149.99 madison.co.uk Oakley Radarlock XL sunglasses, £195 uk.oakley.com Le Col HC jersey, £150 lecol.cc Le Col HC bibshorts, £180 lecol.cc Etxeondo Argi socks, £15 etxeondo.com Vittoria Ikon Pro shoes, £282 vittoria-shoes.com Shake, Rattle And Roll p86 RIDER 1LEFT3 Kask Mojito helmet, £119 velobrands.co.uk Salice 016 RW sunglasses, £89.95 manbi.com Pearl Izumi neck gaiter, £19.99 madison.co.uk Pearl Izumi Elite Pursuit softshell jacket, £139.99 madison.co.uk Pearl Izumi Gel gloves, £49.99…

Helen Wyman Age: 37 Nationality: British Honours 1st, 2012, 2013 European Cyclocross Championships 1st, 2006-2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 British Cyclocross Championships 1st, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 Koppencross 3rd, 2014 World Cyclocross Championships Cyclist: Your new project aims get 100 women racing at the next Under-23 National Championships. How did it come about? Helen Wyman: At this year’s Nationals the elite women’s field was only around 20 riders. I thought, ‘What can we do about this?’ The Helen 100 is a plan to get 100 female under-23 riders to the Nationals in 2019. There’s huge growth in women’s cycling, and we’ve got so many good young riders, like Evie Richards who has won the Worlds twice, or Harriet Harnden who’s only 16 and came fourth. How do we grow that…

In 1984 a flamboyant character made a colourful entrance to the staid and traditional world of professional cycling. Bernard Tapie was a French entrepreneur who promised to shake up the sport with his new team, La Vie Claire, led by four-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault. But the team seemed to be as much about Tapie as it was about La Vie Claire, the small chain of health food shops he owned and whose name appeared on the jerseys. Tapie, a self-made man desperate to earn respect and credibility in French society, was larger than life, dominating press conferences and team launches, and even, during the 1986 Tour, emerging from the window of a team car to bark instructions to his star riders, Hinault and Greg LeMond, as they…

Every year as Easter approaches I reflect on how much bigger Cadbury’s Creme Eggs used to be. It’s the same with most things: Wagon Wheels, kids’ TV, Star Wars films, James Bond baddies. Weren’t they all so much better in the good old days? Rose-tinted specs are part of bike racing, too. Monumental victories by Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck seemed to be of a different calibre to the predictable parades we’re served up today – even though many of us weren’t even alive at the time to witness them. But then Philippe Gilbert went and turned back the clock with a victory of Merckxian splendour at the Tour of Flanders last year, featuring a 55km solo attack to cross the line alone. Suddenly there was…